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Ambler: 250 million tonnes of ore? About 250 million tonnes (1 tonne equals 2,200 lbs.) of ore-grade minerals have been identified in the Ambler Mining District, Trilogy Metals Inc. said in a presentation to the Resource Development Council in Anchorage. The Ambler Mining District is an area in the western Brooks Range with several identified mineral discoveries including one (Arctic) that is well along in development planning. Identified resources in the region include 43 million tonnes of high-grade copper/lead/silver/zinc and…

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Bering Sea tests show big change change A just-completed trawl survey in the Bering Sea found major shifts in ocean species that are believed linked to climate change. Fish were found in places they were previously not; some species were diminished in biomass and others were missing completely in the test areas. Northern Bering Sea cod was down 11 percent in biomass while Pacific cod was up 30 percent in the northern Bering Sea. Arctic cod, a colder-water fish, was…

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ConocoPhillips: Busy winter seen ConocoPhillips has outlined a busy two-winter construction schedule for its GMT-2 project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Last winter an eight-mile gravel road from GMT-1 was built along with the production pad at GMT-2. This winter the company plans to begin pipeline installation, fabrication of modules and “heavy haul” movements of equipment and materials. In the following winter, 2021, the pipeline installation will be completed and production modules moved to the project site. Drilling will begin,…

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State budget effect on jobs and economy hasn’t appeared – yet The good news is that the predicted loss of jobs and business confidence over state budget uncertainty this spring hasn’t appeared, at least yet, because the magnitude of budget cuts threatened earlier by Gov. Mike Dunleavy were moderated by the Legislature and agreed to, in the end, by the governor. Given that, the state’s economy is still on a slow economic rebound from three years of recession, but barely….

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State performance scholarship applications down 9 percent this year State education officials see a 9 percent decline of Alaska Performing Scholarship applications and awards this year, which they attribute to uncertainties and controversy in the state budget last spring, a time when parents and students are deciding whether high school seniors will attend higher education in Alaska or the Lower 48. Another negative sign is that fall enrollment at the University is down statewide and particularly at the University of…

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Reopened base at Adak? The Navy-Marine amphibious assault exercise at Adak in September was considered a big success, and while there’s no plan yet for reopening a permanent base at Adak there’s discussion of a joint-use facility between the Navy, Coast Guard and other federal agencies. Adak is now owned by the Aleut Corp. Contaminated sites: Conservation groups say they have now identified 100 sites at 27 locations across the state where there is contamination by a group of toxic…

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Temporary win, health care providers Health providers won a round against Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s effort to use emergency powers to cut state Medicaid payments. A settlement in lawsuit brought against the state administration by the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association, or ASHNHA would restore cuts in payments ordered this spring and provide for retroactive payments. However, the state is proceeding under normal regulatory procedures to enact a permanent cut in payments. Dunleavy had proposed the reductions last spring…

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Utilities yet to assess fire damage Southcentral electric utility managers have yet to be able to get surface access to Kenai Peninsula transmission lines damaged in the big Swan Lake wildfire. Preliminary surveys to date have been by air, so a realistic damage assessment has not been made. Meanwhile, the continued shutdown of the line that transmits Bradley Lake hydro power north is costing regional utilities because they use more natural gas to replace inexpensive hydro. Utilities briefed the Alaska…

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Long-term melt threat to infrastructure; “good engineers” needed North Slope oil operators face a long-term, existential threat to infrastructure for which there is no easy solution – thawing permafrost. It’s a challenge but it will also stimulate a lot of thinking about essentially rebuilding parts of the slope into what could be more like an offshore field. Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ have been taking deep temperature measurements in permafrost soils underlying the producing oilfields on the slope…

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BLM sets 2019 NPRA lease sale The U.S. Bureau of Land Management will hold its annual lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska on Dec. 11. Three hundred and fifty tracts covering 3.98 million acres will be offered for competitive bid. High-potential coastal areas, which are also ecologically-sensitive, are excluded from the sale. This could change in next year’s sale. BLM told us a draft of its revised NPR-A land management plan will be released later this month. That is…

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